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Topic: [KSM]The Daeluush (Read 2509 times)

The Daeluush are a race of naturally armored humanoids, with an exoskeleton made of layers of tiles of calcium carbonate, like the shells of mollusks. Their race is composed of two genders, but the great majority of their species never reproduce. For the Daeluush, females work, breed, and fight, while males command the workers, the breeders, and the soldiers, all organized into feudal societies.

Basic Physiology

Their heights and weight vary greatly depending on their Caste, with the males generally being the largest, tallest, and strongest, while the workers are often the smallest, shortest, and weakest. Their heights usually range from half a meter in height to two meters in height, and weights vary wildly. Their exoskeletons are usually white or greyish, and they distinguish themselves from each other by intricate tattoos and paints for the high Castes, to simple markings for the low Castes. When properly fed, a Daeluush can easily live for two hundred years, being fairly well protected from environmental threats and pathogens by their exoskeleton, and some of the oldest Daeluush on record have lived to their five hundredth birthday. However, most Daeluush perish to war, famine, and accidents before they turn fifty.

Basic History

In the far distant past, the Daeluush once lived in hives, under the pheromone command of their Queens. Drones once lived to do nothing but mate with the Queen, while the Workers dug out the hive, tended the fields and the young, and the Soldiers defended the hive. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, this simple harmony ended with the first Drone Uprising. Tired of their boring, simple lives and the commands of the Queens, the Drones began to overthrow and suppress the Queens. Thus ended the Age of Queens, and began the Age of Kings. Since then, the males have asserted total dominance, put an end to hives, begun using multiple Breeders to create soldiers and workers, developed language and technology, and organized themselves into the present feudal structure.

Basic Society

The Daeluush have been organized into a feudal society almost ever since the first Queens were overthrown, with the toughest male asserting itself as King, and the next toughest calling themselves Lords, along with their servants, the Knights(these terms are used to avoid having to learn what the different Daeluush words are). However, there has never been any chivalry or honor involved with this system, and a Lord names his Knights himself while the King chooses Knights of his own. As a feudal society, war is almost an ever-present reality.

All Daeluush are first sorted into the different Castes; Breeders, Soldiers, and Workers. Once, all Daeluush were instantly categorized as Workers, until it became obvious they were better suited for other purposes. Now, Daeluush are genetically sorted at laying, and moved to different storage areas for each Caste. If a Daeluush is found unsuitable for any Caste, their egg is destroyed and used as fertilizer for the fungi fields.

Within each Caste, there are different Subcastes, such as the Builders and Farmers of the Workers and the Infantry and Pilots of the Soldiers, followed by Professions such as Engineer and Architect. Placement into Subcastes and Professions is determined by tests.

The only way a Daeluush may "rise" in the Caste system is by entering a Knighthood under a Lord or King, and it is almost totally unheard of for a female to be chosen for a Knight, and illegal for a female to be a Lord or King. The command structure of the Daeluush is hierarchal, starting at the High King who commands all of the Daeluush (there is hardly ever a true High King in existence), followed by Kings of countries, planets, etc, then Lords of cities and such, then Knights who perform a myriad of command roles.

Basic Reproduction

Any Daeluush female has the potential to reproduce, but it is illegal to do so without the consent of their Lord or King, as Daeluush Queens(Mates of a King) and Ladies(Mates of a Lord) lay millions of eggs a year. Queens and Ladies are carefully selected by Kings and Lords because of this fact, or else the population would run out of control. Once a female is chosen to reproduce, she is moved to a comfortable area where she usually spends the rest of her life, forms a very long and often thick egg sac which is usually led through a hole in a wall, and out into a factory facility where the eggs drop onto conveyor belts to undergo screening and testing, then sorted to their different storage areas based on Caste.

Love is a foreign thing to the Daeluush, and selection of mates never occurs based on love. Queens and Ladies are always selected based on genetics or politics, and Kings and Lords often maintain more than one Queen or Lady. Typically, a Lord will keep at least one Lady for Soldiers and one Lady for Workers, both genetically selected to produce the best offspring for their respective Castes, while Kings will often maintain as many Queens and offspring as they can feed. To the Daeluush, there is always strength in numbers, so Kings and Lords usually acquire as many soldiers and workers as they can maintain. Obviously, this has led to numerous population problems, despite tight population controls, and famine occurs regularly.